Jean, who is a 78-year-old widow, lost the use of her right hand after she suffered a stroke. After 45 days in the hospital she returned to her home of 48 years, recognizing that she could no longer prepare meals safely.

She turned to her local Meals On Wheels program for nutritious home-delivered meals so that she could maintain her health. Jean will tell you: “I couldn’t manage by myself. If I didn’t get Meals On Wheels, I don’t know where I would be … maybe living in a nursing home.”

Meals On Wheels programs provide home-bound elderly and disabled individuals with nutritious meals that are delivered to their homes by caring volunteers. Without the meals they receive to help them live independently in their homes, they likely would have to be placed in less desirable and much more costly institutional settings such as nursing homes.

Providing home-delivered meals is a good investment that saves taxpayer money in the long run. One year of meals delivered to the home each weekday costs about $3,600. The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services estimate the average cost of one Medicare day in a hospital at $1,156. A national survey in 2010 showed the average length of stay to be between five and six days.

Medicaid reimbursement for nursing home care in Pennsylvania averages $51,000 a year versus $20,892 for in-home services for those who are nursing-home eligible. We all pay for these services through our taxes. Why not choose the less expensive alternative which is the one most seniors prefer?

Nutrition critical to maintaining health

It is estimated that 50 percent of all diseases impacting older Americans are connected to a lack of nutritious food. We are spending billions of Medicare and Medicaid dollars annually under federal and state medical and long-term care programs by not adequately providing for our seniors’ nutritional needs.

A 2009 report, “The Causes, Consequences, and Future of Senior Hunger in America,” commissioned by the Meals On Wheels Association of America Foundation, states that “hunger and a lack of proper nutrients significantly increase the risk that seniors will suffer from poor or fair health that not only diminishes their quality of life, but also increases the burden on our long-term care and health insurance systems.”

A modest investment in Meals On Wheels programs that combat senior hunger and promote good nutrition goes a long way in reducing overall expenditures. Yet government funding for Meals On Wheels programs in Pennsylvania (through the Older American Act, federal block grant monies, lottery monies, and aging waiver monies) has remained stagnant or decreased over the last seven years.

Over the same time period, food costs have risen 25 percent, with a commensurate rise in labor, utilities and other costs. Luckily, we have the commitment of thousands of dedicated volunteers who deliver the meals, provide a community connection and keep these programs cost effective.

Our programs rely upon the generosity of private funders, some to fill in the government funding gaps, and others to completely fund their programs.

In a time when over 8 million older Americans are at risk of hunger and our economy is still not bouncing back, we need to make every taxpayer dollar and donated dollar count! An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

I ask that you consider helping your local Meals On Wheels program by donating funds to provide meals or volunteering to deliver meals in your community. They rely on you to care. I hope you will.

JoAnn Nenow is president of the Meals On Wheels Association of Pennsylvania and executive director of Meals On Wheels of Northampton County.